College Football Rivalry Week Upset Picks

Since its rivalry week, any upset could be disaster for any team looking to move up in the College Football Playoff Rankings. Iowa plays Nebraska in a game that should be much tougher for the third ranked Hawkeyes to navigate than many believe. Ohio State takes on Michigan in one of the great rivalry games in college football history. Florida State battles Florida in another huge rivalry matchup.

Analysis: Iowa has beaten every team that they’ve played this season. With a win against Nebraska, the Hawkeyes will only need to beat Michigan State to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.

But, beating Nebraska at home is no easy task. The Cornhuskers have finally put it together under first year coach Mike Riley. Nebraska has won 2 games in a row in impressive fashion. First, they upset Ohio State conqueror Michigan State 39 to 38. Then, in their last game, Nebraska pummeled Rutgers 31 to 14. The Cornhuskers appear to be well-suited to upset Iowa, an undefeated team that is only 6 and 5 ATS this season, on the moneyline.

Analysis: There are all sorts of dissension with Ohio State now. The Buckeyes are blaming each other for the loss to Michigan State that probably knocked Ohio State out of the running for the National Championship.

But, Michigan hasn’t been playing as well as some might believe. The Michigan defense stepped it up against Penn State in a 28 to 16 win, but before that the Wolverines needed overtime in order to beat Indiana 48 to 41. Michigan also gave up 26 points to Minnesota on Halloween Night.

Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer knows that beating Michigan is actually more important than playing in a New Year’s Day Bowl Game. All he has to do is ask former Buckeye coach John Cooper what happened when he couldn’t beat Michigan. Ohio State takes it.

Analysis: There’s no doubt that Florida looked like garbage when beating Florida Atlantic 20 to 14 in their last game as a -28.5 point home favorite. Florida State has every right to be the favorite in this game. But, Florida is most likely one of those teams that let up on the gas pedal when playing a weaker opponent.

The Gators had to be thinking about this matchup with Florida State. Florida desperately wants to beat Florida State after losing to the Seminoles last season. Expect the Gators to get it going on offense while hurting Florida State’s offense with their strong defense.